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Canada should not let Saudi Arabia get away with murder

CJ

By Cesar JaramilloOpinion

Thu., Nov. 22, 2018timer3 min. read

A month has passed since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged, with apparent resolve, that Canada would “not hesitate” to freeze arms exports to Saudi Arabia after the horrific assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. It is time to follow through.

That Riyadh has lied to the world with its various accounts on the circumstances surrounding Khashoggi's killing is clear. Now the CIA has reportedly concluded that the killing could not have occurred without the blessing and knowledge of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Although questions remain, clear signs point to the heart of the House of Saud. And there can be no compelling reason for further inaction by the Canadian government.

Despite regulations specifically designed to prevent it, Canada is arming one of the world’s worst human-rights violators and oppressors of women — and the country chiefly responsible for the devastating humanitarian crisis in Yemen, now on the brink of the worst famine in a century.

It is within our government’s prerogative, mandate, and duty to end Canada’s complicity with Saudi Arabia. Germany has just announced that it would rescind previously approved deals with the Kingdom.

Trudeau has said that cancelling arms exports to Saudi Arabia would result in hefty financial penalties for Canada. He claimed that other arms exporters would then fill the void.

But he has also said that his government will be “firm” on human rights. Feminism and the pursuit of a rules-based international order are key pillars of Canada’s engagement with the world.

Our government speaks loudly and proudly of Canada as a beacon of human and women’s rights. It touts its commitment to more stringent and transparent arms control regulations at every opportunity. But the gap between rhetoric and reality has become too great to ignore.

Canada must walk the talk. It must respond to the Khashoggi killing and numerous other Saudi human-rights violations. And time is of the essence. As the “on the one hand, on the other” debate unfolds, Canadian arms are being shipped to Saudi Arabia. Soon there will be nothing to suspend or cancel.

Recent history does not encourage optimism. Last year, the Liberal majority in the House Foreign Affairs Committee twice rejected proposals to establish much-needed parliamentary oversight of Canada's arms trade. This month, Foreign Affairs Minister Freeland rejected a Senate recommendation for additional export controls specifically related to human-rights and international humanitarian law.

There are other related concerns.

Global Affairs Canada relied heavily on, and endorsed, the Saudi version of events in 2017 in which Canadian-made armoured vehicles were used during a violent crackdown of Shia civilians in eastern Saudi Arabia. All by the book, the Saudis claimed. But we now know that Saudi Arabia has blatantly lied about the Khashoggi killing. Were they lying then? Does Canada need to re-examine the evidence?

Some of the arguments of the Canadian government also require further scrutiny.

The government claims Canada will face financial penalties if it cancels the arms deal. But when did it become binding? Was it when the Harper government negotiated the agreement or when the Trudeau government issued the export permits? If the former, what purpose did the subsequent export permit assessment serve? If the latter, then the bind that the Trudeau government now laments is of its own making.

Why is the government now emphasizing the high financial cost in breaking the contract? Are they implicitly acknowledging non-compliance with export controls (i.e., this deal is not kosher, BUT breaking it will cost us)? That they would cancel arms exports to Saudi Arabia were it not for the penalties? Really?

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Global Affairs Canada’s emphasis on commercial confidentiality smells bad. No one is talking about revealing trade secrets related to the technical specifications of the exported goods. There is a legitimate public interest in knowing whether the Canadian government entered into a flawed agreement — especially when it is taxpayers, not shareholders, who would purportedly be liable for the penalties.

The Khashoggi affair provides the government with a golden opportunity to do what should have been done a long time ago: end Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia, for good. Despite Ottawa’s disconcerting handling of this file thus far, the window is remarkably still open. But only barely.

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